


Living with Ourselves

by Honorable_mention



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Ben Possessing Klaus, Consent Issues, Gen, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Possession, Sober Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25683217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honorable_mention/pseuds/Honorable_mention
Summary: Klaus felt hands on his body. He screamed but the sound echoed through nothingness. A cotton filter shrouded the sky and the deep brown dirt and Jill, pressed in his lap. Her mouth was on his neck but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. No way to ask her to get off, to let him breath.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 13
Kudos: 248





	Living with Ourselves

Klaus felt hands on his body. He screamed but the sound echoed through nothingness. A cotton filter shrouded the sky and the deep brown dirt and Jill, pressed in his lap. Her mouth was on his neck but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. No way to ask her to get off, to let him breath.

Ben should have known this was off limits. He’d been there with Klaus through everything, had seen what happened to him and what he had done to survive. The means he’d used to get a place to sleep and a much-needed hit of something potent. Ben had been there long enough to know that this wasn’t okay.

But Ben, in his body, kept doing what he was doing. Jill didn’t even know who she was trying to sleep with. Had Ben not considered that? But he’d always been the thoughtful one. Hadn’t he?

He should have known.

Through that cotton filter he could hear Diego talking to Ben. He couldn’t make out the conversation exactly, but there was something about getting to the alley and Five. 

And then Diego told Ben to stay in his body. Diego, the living member of the family Klaus had always secretly felt closest to, would happily give him up to keep Ben around. Klaus shuddered at the thought of what would happen if his brother stayed in his body like this. What Ben would make Klaus do.

No, Ben was good. Ben was kind, and he wouldn’t violate Klaus’s trust. But hadn’t he already done that? Violated his trust? Violated his body?

At that moment Klaus realized he needed to get back in control.

With all the strength he could muster he tried to shove Ben out of his body. Ben pushed back, tried to hold Klaus down, keep him locked away in whatever dank cavern he was stuck in. Let the hands continue to roam over his neck and thighs.

Klaus screamed at Ben, wailed at him to let go. He began to panic as he felt his control slipping away. He had to get back. He had to.

His feet were walking down the road but he wasn’t in control of them. The bumps and cracks of the road slipped away to gravel, but it was Ben moving Klaus’s feet for him. Ben talking to their brothers. Ben watching Luther and Ben. But his brother was distracted and, with one final heave, Klaus sent Ben hurtling across the gravel.

Clarity struck him suddenly, the way it had the first time he’d managed to banish the ghosts while sober. His head was clear. His breath was finally his own again.

Experimentally he stretched his fingers and played with his jaw. It was his body, he knew that, but it felt foreign. Different. Surreal.

Without warning he threw up across the gravel of the alleyway. It didn’t make him feel much better. 

He rolled over to see Ben lying next to him. In that stupid black hoodie he smiled like nothing had happened.

“What the fuck, Ben?” He asked, sitting up and ignoring the exasperated looks from Luther and Five.

“No regrets,” Ben murmured, “no regrets.”

“Why not?” Klaus rubbed his sore head. “That was one of the most violating experiences of my life.”

“Don’t be dramatic. You always say that.” Ben shook some of the viscous white vomit off his arm. “This is disgusting by the way.”

“I’m being serious you ass,” Klaus said. His voice came out as little more than a whisper.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” Ben said, reaching towards his shoulder. Klaus flinched away.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I didn’t realize you’d get this upset.”

“Well I did. You broke the rules we established, and you know why they’re established. Ben, you should have known,” Klaus said. He wasn’t going to cry, not in front of his brothers. They already thought he was crazy enough, talking to the air and stumbling through life.

“I’m sorry Klaus, but I didn’t realize you’d get this upset. Calm down and we can talk about this.” Ben reached his hand towards Klaus again.

“I said don’t touch me! I don’t want you near me right now!” Blue energy encircled his hands and thrummed through his veins. 

“Klaus, what are you doing?” Ben asked, his voice fading away as the brick wall behind his back became visible. Before Klaus realized what he had done Ben was gone, and Klaus was left sitting in an alley. All by himself with his living brothers.

  
  


It was probably in Vanya’s best interest that she got to use her powers, but Klaus would prefer it if she used them in a less, well, catastrophic way. Causing the apocalypse once was understandable, but this was getting a bit ridiculous.

Sound rushed past his ears and shrouded the FBI building in blue and white light. Allison and Diego huddled next to him while the bloody and battered ghosts of the recently dead circled through the onslaught of energy.

For a moment Klaus wished that Ben were there with them, but then he remembered the feeling of being trapped in his own body. There hadn’t been enough time for him to think about seeing Ben, let alone talking to him.

But it would have been nice to get some advice.

Diego was going on and on about being a martyr and saving the world, as if that had ever meant anything to anyone. Klaus was a veteran, he knew that dying for a cause didn’t mean much more than dying in general. He wasn’t about to lose someone else to a fanciful idea.

It didn’t stop Allison from crawling out from behind the desk. For a moment he thought she might be okay, but then he heard her back slam against the cabinet.

Diego followed her a second later. He always needed to be the hero. Soon, though, he was slamming against the desk with their sister. Klaus winced at the sound, but he knew he needed to do something. He gave himself a little pep talk, took a breath, and rounded the edge of the desk.

The pain was instantaneous. It battered his face and his chest. Blood began to stream out of his nose and the corners of his mouth as he struggled against the blue energy. He needed to be there for his sister. He had to do this.

His feet began to slip and then his neck slammed against the desk.

He groaned and realized his control over his powers was slipping. The newly dead began to approach him, to sniff out this human beacon that called to them against its will. They slipped around the corners of the hallway and through the blinds, past the toppled cups of pencils and the upturned sliding chairs.

But one figure wasn’t moving towards him. It just stood there, staring at the light.

“Ben?” Klaus asked.

“It’s me.” Ben turned to Klaus. He opened his mouth for a minute, thought about what he was going to say, and finally spoke. “I’m sorry. We can talk later, but there’s something I need to do first. Goodbye. I’ll see you soon.”

Ben gave Klaus a little wave and walked towards their sister and that screaming blue light. Klaus watched him go in silence.

**Author's Note:**

> So I finished Season 2 tonight and I feel very mixed about it. On the one hand I enjoyed it immensely, but on the other hand I’m so upset about how they treated Klaus’s character. He’s sober for three years and we almost never see him use his powers? 
> 
> I just have a lot of feelings about it. Also, the possession should have been a bigger deal.
> 
> Also, I started writing this before I saw that other people had written (amazing!) fics on this topic, but I would absolutely recommend reading those! They’re so good!


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